Author Games: Ragnarok

Quaterfinals Entries: Persephone Pluton

As soon as the arena went dark, Persephone knew there was a problem. Well, Queen knew there was a problem. Springtime just thought it was time to sleep.

"It's so nice of the fates to make it night time early," Springtime said with a cheerful smile as she curled up in the Roc's now empty nest. "We've been needing a break. Especially since the only people who liked us a little bit are dead now and we're all alone."

"Spring, shut up will you? Something's definitely wrong." Queen paced around, staring up at the sky. The starless, moonless, pitch black sky where only moments earlier had been the bright mid-day sun. Queen was used to the darkness of the Underworld. She wasn't truly able to see anything in the arena, but she could at least make out shapes.

There was a shape high above them, circling and swooping dangerously.

"Spring," Queen Persephone hissed, "cover yourself with leaves or something. Try to hide. There's something in the sky, and whatever it is, it can see."

"Oooh, hide and seek? Okay! Is the thing in the sky counting first? This is fun!"

Queen sighed, "quietly?"

"Okay," Spring answered back in a stage whisper. "How long will it count for do you think?"

Somewhere just a few buildings away, Spring's question was answered by a blood-curdling scream.

"Ooooh," Spring said in a sing-song voice, "someone's not very good at hiding."

Queen paced quicker, trying to think of something. This creature was obviously their enemy. And whatever it was, it thrived in darkness. Meaning light was probably a weakness. She frowned. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's really too bad that Amaterasu went and got herself killed."

"Aw, I miss her too. She was so pretty, and her singing voice was so nice," Springtime noted sadly. "I wonder how Alicia's doing."

Queen froze. "What?"

"Alicia. He was Amaterasu's finance, remember? Now that she's dead, I wonder if Alicia's handling it okay."

"Camazots!" Queen gasped, finally putting it together.

Spring sighed, "Okay, Camazots, whatever. He really looked more like an Alicia to me. Especially with those pretty pink eyes."

"No no no." Queen shook her head, rushing over to her double. "Camazots! He's the one doing this! I'm not sure why exactly, but it's definitely him doing it." The more Queen thought about it, the more it made sense. As a god of darkness, it only made sense that he waited until the god and goddess of the sun were dead before he entered the arena. He wanted the power of the Victor all for himself.

The Persephone's would need to act quickly before everyone in the arena-- including them-- was dead.

"Aw, how sweet!" Springtime giggled.

Queen raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Don't you see?" Spring gasped, grabbing Queen's hands. "He's clearly heartbroken over the death of his one true love Ama, so he's letting out his anguish by going on a murder-spree! It's adorable." She sighed dreamily. "Do you think that Uncle-Husband will do the same after we die? I hope so."

Queen stared at the outline of her double in the darkness. "You have a severely screwed up idea of romance." She stood up, pulling Spring with her. "We need to go, right now. We need to find Balder."

"Hasn't he died, like, five times already?" Springtime questioned.

Queen shrugged, "I've decided not to question what goes on in this arena. The Fates can do whatever they want."

Springtime nodded and obediently followed Queen. "Okay, but why do we need to find him?"

"He's a god of light, so he's the only one who might be able to put up a fight against Camazots." Queen explained.

"Oooh, I get it. Because Alicia's all dark and stuff and Balder's light so-- OH MY HADES THERE'S A HEAD! ...AGAIN!"

"He wasn't much of a fight," Camazots noted with a shrug, tossing the head of Balder aside. He stood at the edge of the roof, the only light coming from the slight glint of his terrifying smile.

"Alicia! Hi! Hi!" Springtime exclaimed, waving franticly.

Queen pressed a hand to her own forehead, trying very hard to resist killing her double. That clearly wouldn't end well, and at the moment, she had a bat god to worry about.

Camazots exhaled heavily. "Hello, Persephone. It'll be quite nice to finally shut you up for good."

Springtime gasped. "Alicia. But we're friends!"

"No, you are an annoyance, and one of the last few people standing between myself and the power I deserve. How you've managed to survive this long is a mystery to me, but it doesn't matter. Your time is up now."

Springtime sniffled.

"Hey!" Queen snapped, glaring at Camazots as she positioned herself in front of Springtime. "I'm the only one who's allowed to make Springy cry, got that?" She pointed her two-pronged spear at him. There was no running in this situation. The only solution was to kill Camazots before he could kill her.

Camazots pulled his own dagger, smiling wickedly. "I'll enjoy draining you of ichor."

~*~

"That was like... super intense," Springtime noted, shielding her eyes from the bright shining sun.

"Shut up, Springtime," Queen growled. She was breathing heavily and whipping at the multitude of deep cuts that had been inflicted on her during the battle.

"No but really, you kicked bat-butt Queenie!" Springtime giggled, obviously ignoring the fact that Queen was almost killed on several occasions and only managed to defeat Camazots by sheer luck and timing.

"Hm." Queen muttered. The cuts were healing quickly of course, but they still hurt.

Springtime was silent for a moment, then she sighed. "I hope Ama and Alicia are reunited now that they're both dead."

Queen glared. "Want me to kill you so you can go ask?"

Springtime shook her head, still smiling. "No, that's okay. We can just find out after we win and go back to the Underworld."

"How is it possible that we're the same person?"

"Well, your hair is red, my hair is red, our eyes are green." Springtime counted on her fingers as she thought out loud. "We have the same mom, we have the same husband, we have the same name.-- Hey, Queenie, I don't think it's a good idea to hit your head like that."

"You're so stupid."